A Peel Region police officer who was convicted of driving drunk and later caught breaking his court-ordered driving ban will get to keep his job.

Const. Alex Metallinos has been demoted for 9 months after he pleaded guilty to Police Services Act charges of discreditable conduct.

Metallinos, a 13-year veteran officer, will go from a first-class constable to a second-class constable and will sacrifice just under $10,000 in pay.

It was September 2015 when Metallinos was off-duty in New Tecumseth and drove his pick-up truck at some Simcoe County OPP officers who were investigating investigating a disturbance.

An officer stopped Metallinos and he was found to have a blood alcohol level well above the legal limit.

Metallinos was found guilty last December of having excess blood alcohol and in addition to his 1-year driving ban, was fined $1,000.

The month after learning of his criminal sanctions, a tip came in to Crime Stoppers that led Internal police investigators to believe Metallinos was breaking his court order by driving.

About a week later, detectives with the Peel Regional Police Internal Affairs division caught up with Metallinos while he was off-duty.

The engine of his vehicle was running and he was buckling his child in when he was confronted.

Metallinos admitted to the detective that he was about to go for a drive before he was stopped.

However, the constable was never charged with a criminal offence.

Edward Prutschi, a defence attorney and NEWSTALK 1010's Chief Legal Analyst, says that while there is a case to be made that Metallinos was legally in care-and-control of the vehicle, the admission might not have held up in a criminal court.

He says if the constable was not cautioned about the ramifications of making statements to investigators then a judge might rule the supposed admission 'inadmissible.'